Tuesday, November 25, 2008

It’s not a huge mistake, but it’s a mistake nonetheless. And it appears on the Web site of a respected university. On the Rutgers University football team’s History Capsule (1973-present) page a typo exists after the third word in the second line. There is a space lacking in the run-on word “teamsrecognized.” Since that word doesn’t exist in the English language, the copy should read “teams recognized for fundamentals and defense.”

Evidently, the page’s writer, editor, maybe a copy editor or two, the Web designer and those in the football and athletic departments, who have presumably read the copy, have all missed the typo. Again, it’s not the most egregious copy error Proofreader has ever seen, but it does appear in the second line of the article. It’s not like the mistake is buried somewhere deep in the midst of the team’s late 20th century history. It’s right up top, in the paragraph about coach Frank Burns rebuilding the team, for all potential recruits to see (not that the recruits necessarily care; but the school and, maybe, alumni should).

As for the likelihood of the mistake being caught/fixed in the short-term, it’s not nearly Rutgers University’s or the football program’s biggest problemright now, so don’t look for the mistake to be corrected anytime soon.